Refuse compactor structure

ABSTRACT

A refuse compactor having a substantially rigid receptacle and a ram for compacting refuse placed in said receptacle. The refuse is compacted within a bag arranged to line the receptacle during the compacting operation. A removable protective sleeve is provided within the bag in the receptacle to maintain the integrity of the bag during the compacting operation.

United States Patent [191 Bottas et al.

[ 1 Nov. 4, 1975 REFUSE COMPACTOR STRUCTURE Inventors: Michael J. Bottas, Saint Joseph;

Robert W. Brooks, Benton Harbor,

both of Mich.

[73] Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation, Benton Harbor, Mich.

[22] Filed: Feb. 25, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 118,860

[52] US. Cl. 220/65; 100/229 A; 141/316;

141/390 [51] Int. Cl. B65D 25/14 [58] Field of Search 220/65, 17, l T, R;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8,625 1/1852 Bushnell 141/390 215,787 5/1879 Belt 100/3 696,832 4/1902 Maschke 220/85 R 878,342 2/1908 Campbell 53/255 1,234,057 7/1917 McIntyre 141/314 1,401,090 12/1921 Levy 220/17 1,466,084 8/1923 Burrows 220/65 1,861,112 5/1932 Christian 220/63 R 1,886,406 11/1932 Kniffin 220/65 2,188,111 1/1940 Grandinetti. 220/65 2,384,709 9/1945 Thoren 220/65 3,405,744 lO/l968 Bowman 141/12 3,734,340 5/1973 Ipaslito et al. 220/63 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 485,800 5/1938 United Kingdom 220/65 Primary Examiner William 1. Price Assistant ExaminerStephen Marcus Attorney, Agent, or FirmH0f gren, Wegner, Allen, Stellman & McCord ABSIRACT A refuse compactor having a substantially rigid receptacle and a ram for compacting refuse placed in said receptacle. The refuse is compacted within a bag arranged to line the receptacle during the compacting operation. A removable protective sleeve is provided within the bag in the receptacle to maintain the integrity of the bag during the compacting operation.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 19 IH Z5 REFUSE COMPACTOR STRUCTURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to refuse compactors and in particular to refuse compactors wherein the refuse is compacted within a bag.

2. Description of the Prior Art In one form of known refuse compactor, a ram is forcibly urged into a receptacle for compacting refuse placed therein. Facilitated disposal of the compacted refuse is effected by providing a bag in which the refuse is compacted. It has been found that rupture and tearing of the bag often occur as a result of relatively sharp elements disposed in the refuse being forcibly urged against the bag during the compacting operation. Illustratively, glass bottles and tin cans may be included in the refuse and when forced against the bag material often cause cutting or tearing of the bag. Not only does such cutting or tearing weaken the bag so as to permit possible separation thereof during the refuse transferring operations whereby the refuse may spill from the torn bag, but also such cutting or tearing permits fluids contained in the refuse to leak between the bag and the surrounding receptacle. The leakage of such fluids is highly undesirable as it requires periodic maintenance of the receptacle to prevent unsanitary and odorous conditions and also causes sticking of the bag to the receptacle making the removal of the bag from the receptacle quite difficult.

One attempted solution to the problem has been to provide tear-resistant plied bags. While such reinforced bags have alleviated the problem somewhat, the use of such bags has the serious disadvantages of relatively high cost and has failed to completely preclude such undesirable cutting-tearing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprehends an improved refuse compactor structure utilizing a protective sleeve removably installed in the apparatus to effectively positively maintain the integrity of the bag during compaction of the refuse therein. More specifically, the invention comprehends the provision of a tubular sleeve which may be inserted within the bag before or after the bag is placed in the receptacle. The compacting ram moves downwardly through the sleeve in effecting the refuse compaction and sharp objects and the like in the refuse are prevented from injuring the bag by the protective sleeve or sheath. The sheath may be formed of a semi-rigid material such as a plastic. The sheath preferably comprises a cut-resistant, tough liner permitting repetitive use of the sheath.

The sheath may be foldable for shipment and for easy insertion into the bag, and may be resiliently biased toward an open or expanded position to facilitate proper shaping and alignment of the bag within the refuse container.

The sheath may have a preselected configuration slightly smaller than the inner configuration of the receptacle whereby the bag is effectively retained in an expanded arrangement between the sheath and the receptacle walls for facilitated compaction therein. The sheath is preferably formed of a material having a relatively low coefficient of friction with the bag material and the refuse to permit facilitated insertion and removal of the sheath.

The sheath may be provided with suitable manual grasping means for further facilitating installation and removal.

The sheath is preferably formed of a waterproof material permitting facilitated cleaning of the sheath when desired.

By virtue of the utilization of the protective sheath, the refuse bag may comprise a relatively thin, inexpensive bag which illustratively may comprise a single ply plastic bag. Further, by preventing leakage, the sheath maintains the compactor relatively clean so that disposal of compacted refuse may be effected with minimum disagreeability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a refuse compactor illustrating the insertion of the protective sheath into the compaction drawer receptacle thereof;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary transverse vertical section illustrating the arrangement of the compactor as upon initiation of a compaction cycle;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the receptacle with the bag installed therein and with the sheath being shown in the installed arrangement in full lines and in an initial inserted arrangement in broken lines;

FIG. 4 is a transverse vertical section taken substantially along the line 44 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the sheath in a folded arrangement as supplied for use in the refuse compactor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the exemplary embodiment of the invention as disclosed in the drawing, a refuse compactor generally designated 10 is shown to comprise a housing 11 for removably receiving a drawer-type receptacle l2. Receptacle 12 is selectively disposed within housing 11 in a compacting disposition, as shown in FIG. 2, and a forwardly withdrawn refuse receiving position, as shown in FIG. 1. Refuse delivered into receptacle 12 is compacted therein by suitable means such as ram 13 which is forcibly urged downwardly into the receptacle by suitable drive means such as a threaded rod and nut assembly 27 to effect an automatic compaction of the refuse.

To facilitate disposal of the compacted refuse, a bag 14 is placed in the receptacle prior to the delivery of refuse thereinto. As shown in FIG. 1, top edge 15 of the bag may be turned over the top edge 16 of the receptacle and retained in position against the outside of the receptacle by suitable holding elements 17.

As indicated briefly above, the invention comprehends the provision of a protective sheath 18 within bag 14 to protect the bag against cutting and tearing during the compaction operation. Sheath 18 herein comprises a tubular liner formed of a tough cut-resistant plastic material adapted to be readily installed within bag 14 in receptacle 12 to extend in facial engagement with the inner surface of the bag and thereby effectively retain the bag between the sheath and the side walls of the receptacle.

As best seen in FIG. 1, sheath 18 includes side walls 19 and 20 and end walls 21 and 22. The end walls may be joined to the side walls along corner fold lines 23 and the end walls may be provided with a central fold line 24 whereby the sheath may be provided in a flattened arrangement, as shown in FIG. 5, for facilitated shipment or storage. The upper edge of side walls 19 and 20 may be outturned to define manual grasping portions 25 for facilitating installation and removal of the sheath relative to drawer 12.

The lower ends of corners 23 may be provided with notches 26 for providing improved flexibility to the lower end of the sheath and the notches may be rounded for effectively precluding damage to the bag at the lower corner portions thereof upon insertion of the sheath into the bag in receptacle l2.

Sheath 18 is preferably formed of a cut-resistant, tough material. Further, the sheath is preferably formed of a material having a relatively low coefficient of friction relative to the bag material for facilitated insertion and removal. Illustratively, the sheath may be formed of a plastic such as polyethylene, polypropylene, etc. The sheath may be formed by any suitable method such as extrusion, blow molding, centrifugal casting, forming from a flat sheet, etc. Where the sheath is formed of plastic material, fold lines 23 may effectively define living hinges whereby manipulation of the sheath between the folded and expanded arrangements may be readily repetitively effected as desired.

When the sheath is formed from a sheet of plastic or some other resilient material, it may be constructed such that it is normally biased to an open or expanded position, generally assuming a rectangular shape. To insert the sheath into the bag, the sheath is compressed into a slightly folded arrangement as seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, and lowered into the bag. Once the sheath is in the bag it is released and as it expands toward its normal open configuration the bag is likewise expanded and properly shaped.

The sheath may be inserted into the bag before the bag is placed in the refuse receptable, thereby facilitating insertion of the-bag itself. Or, if desired, the sheath may be inserted into the bag after the bag has first been placed in the receptacle, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3.

Although the bottom of the bag 14 is generally not damaged during compaction, the user can protect against such damage by ensuring that the first refuse matter placed into the bag is paper, cardboard or some other material which will serve to form a protective layer across the bottom of the bag. Alternatively, a newspaper or the like may be folded to conform with the dimensions of the bottom of the receptacle l2 and placed in the bag before refuse is added.

As shown in FIG. 4, refuse R is delivered into the receptacle within sheath 18 so that forces generated by the forcible movement of ram 13 downwardly thereinto during the compaction operation are prevented from rupturing or otherwise breaking the integrity of bag 14 as by cutting or tearing. Such bag rupture occurs primarily along the sides of the bag by the movement of sharp objects such as broken glass and metal objects in the bag being urged downwardly along the side walls and, thus, sheath 18 effectively defines a protective liner for preventing such injury to the bag portions disposed outwardly thereof.

Upon completion of the compaction of the preselected maximum quantity of refuse in the receptacle, the user merely moves the drawer 12 to the forward position and withdraws the sheath by upward movement of the sheath as facilitated by the use of grasping handle portions 25. The low coefficient of friction of the sheath material permits facilitated sliding action against the bag surface, as well as against the compacted refuse within the sheath permitting a relatively weak user such as a housewife to readily remove the sheath. The bagged refuse may be then removedfrom receptacle 12 and suitably sealed to permit facilitated disposal as desired. By maintaining the integrity of the bag, the refuse may be effectively sealed therein, maintaining high sanitary and odor-free conditions relative to the refuse.

A new bag may be now readily installed in receptacle 12 and sheath 18 reinserted into the receptacle with the new bag as discussed above for subsequent compaction operation in the manner described above.

Thus, sheath 18 provides a low cost, simple structure providing improved facility in the use of the refuse. compactor. The use of sheath 18 effectively maintains the integrity of bag 14 while the bag 14 may comprise an extremely economical and simple, single ply plastic bag conventionally available for normal refuse bagging purposes. Thus, the use of sheath 18 provides improved economy in the use of the compactor while yet permitting the highly desirable facilitated handling of substantial quantities of refuse in an improved sanitary manner.

The foregoing disclosure of specific embodiments is illustrative of the broad inventive concepts comprehended by the invention.

We claim:

1. In a refuse compactor having a substantially rigid compacting receptacle provided with an open top, means for providing facilitated disposition of refuse compacted in the receptacle, comprising: a flexible bag having an open portion adapted to be received in the receptacle with said open portion at said receptacle open top for receiving trash therethrough; and a cutresistant, tough sheath removably inserted through said bag open portion defining a protective wall within said bag in the receptacle for effectively precluding damage to said bag over substantially its entire side walls as a result of compaction of refuse therein, said sheath being readily removable from said bag upon completion of compaction of refuse therein to permit the bagged compacted refuse to be removed from the receptacle with maintained integrity for facilitated disposal, said sheath comp rising a tubular element formed of semi-rigid material and being provided with longitudinal fold lines providing adjustability of the transverse cross-section of the tubular configuration.

2. In a refuse compactor having a substantially rigid compacting receptacle provided with an open top, means for providing facilitated disposition of refuse compacted in the receptacle, comprising: a flexible bag having an open portion adapted to be received in the receptacle with said open portion at said receptacle open top for receiving trash therethrough; and a cutresistant, tough sheath removably inserted through said bag open portion defining a protective wall within said bag in the receptacle for effectively precluding damage to said bag over substantially its entire side walls as a result of compaction of refuse therein, said sheath being readily removable from said bag upon completion of compaction of refuse therein to permit the bagged compacted refuse to be removed from the receptacle with maintained integrity for facilitated disposal, said sheath being provided with comers each having a notched end defining a flexible entering por- 4. The refuse compactor of claim 2 wherein said cortion of the sheath for facilitating insertion of the sheath nets are foldable whereby Said sheath comprises a t i h b i h receptacle erally expansible folded tubular element.

, 5. The refuse compactor means of claim 2 wherein The refuse Compactor means of claim 2 whel'em said sheath comer lower end notches mclude means for said bag defines lower corner portions and said sheath precluding injuly to comer portions of the bag upon such insertion into the bag.

corner lower end notches are rounded. 

1. In a refuse compactor having a substantially rigid compacting receptacle provided with an open top, means for providing facilitated disposition of refuse compacted in the receptacle, comprising: a flexible bag having an open portion adapted to be received in the receptacle with said open portion at said receptacle open top for receiving trash therethrough; and a cutresistant, tough sheath removably inserted through said bag open portion defining a protective wall within said bag in the receptacle for effectively precluding damage to said bag over substantially its entire side walls as a result of compaction of refuse therein, said sheath being readily removable from said bag upon completion of compaction of refuse therein to permit the bagged compacted refuse to be removed from the receptacle with maintained integrity for facilitated disposal, said sheath comprising a tubular element formed of semi-rigid material and being provided with longitudinal fold lines providing adjustability of the transverse cross-section of the tubular configuration.
 2. In a refuse compactor having a substantially rigid compacting receptacle provided with an open top, means for providing facilitated disposition of refuse compacted in the receptacle, comprising: a flexible bag having an open portion adapted to be received in the receptacle with said open portion at said receptacle open top for receiving trash therethrough; and a cut-resistant, tough sheath removably inserted through said bag open portion defining a protective wall within said bag in the receptacle for effectively precluding damage to said bag over substantially its entire side walls as a result of compaction of refuse therein, said sheath being readily removable from said bag upon completion of compaction of refuse therein to permit the bagged compacted refuse to be removed from the receptacle with maintained integrity for facilitated disposal, said sheath being provided with corners each having a notched end defining a flexible entering portion of the sheath for facilitating insertion of the sheath into the bag in the receptacle.
 3. The refuse compactor means of claim 2 wherein said bag defines lower corner portions and said sheath corner lower end notches are rounded.
 4. The refuse compactor of claim 2 wherein said corners are foldable whereby said sheath comprises a laterally expansible folded tubular element.
 5. The refuse compactor means of claim 2 wherein said sheath corner lower end notches include means for precluding injury to said lower corner portions of the bag upon such insertion into the bag. 